McLean County Times

Illinois State University's volleyball team secured a straight-sets victory over Belmont in Nashville, winning 25-18, 25-20, and 25-21. The Redbirds' performance marked their first time hitting above .300 since last season's Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) tournament opening round.

Caitlyn Little and Hannah Reichensperger were key contributors to the win. Illinois State achieved a season-high .305 hitting percentage, giving Belmont only its fourth loss of the season and second in MVC play.

The match began with both teams tied at six before Illinois State took control with four consecutive points and maintained the lead for the rest of the set. In the second set, after being tied at 16, ISU scored five straight points to pull ahead. The third set saw ISU take an early lead that they never relinquished.

Illinois State now leads Belmont 6-0 in their all-time series, having won 18 out of 22 sets played between them.

Reichensperger recorded ten kills on thirteen attempts without errors. Her .769 attack percentage ties for ninth-best in single-match program history. She is also the first player to hit .769 or better since Jaelyn Keene achieved .842 against Florida A&M on August 29, 2015. Reichensperger also contributed four blocks.

Little matched her career-high with four service aces—three coming in the first set—and tied for the team lead with ten kills. This was her fifth consecutive match with double-digit kills and her ninth leading or tying for most kills on the team this season. She added six digs while hitting .227.

Khenedi Guest led MVC in blocks per set entering this match and had four blocks against Belmont along with nine kills and a personal best .562 attack percentage.

Ella Craggs provided a match-high thirty-three assists for Illinois State along with four digs and two blocks. Aida Shadewald recorded six kills and nine digs, matching Arianna Rossi's nine digs which tied for most in the match. Ruth Ziegler added seven kills—her ninth match this year reaching at least seven.

The Redbirds will travel next to Murray, Kentucky for a Saturday afternoon matchup against Murray State Racers at 1 p.m.